Thank you to all who attended, and participated in, our “Building Bridges Conference” in Pittsburgh. We had 73 attendees from a variety of fields such as mass transit, education, social services, orientation and mobility, and persons who are self employed. In addition to the nearby folks of Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia, we had people who traveled great distances such as Canada, Alabama, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Minnesota, Montana, New York, and Massachusetts.

We had some outstanding presenters with the most popular being Dr. Wendy Ross, “Autism: A New Approach to Travel”; the Pantuso family,” Travel Instruction-One Family’s Perspective; Alicia Chico, “Thinking Outside the Box: Empowering A Diagnosis; Dona Sauerburger, “Do I Have Time To Cross?” as well as ,”Students Who are Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing or Deaf-Blind: Communication is the Key!”; and Dr. Barb Minzenberg, “Crafting New Partnerships and Formalizing New Standards: What Can We Learn From Other Disciplines”. The panel discussions on both days opened the door to some very insightful discussions. Many of these conversations continued after the close of the sessions and that is a great way to forge mutual respect and understanding. We greatly appreciated all of the feedback sheets that were returned, especially the comments, from each of the sessions. It will help us in planning our next conference. However, a common thread from the comments that did standout was the desire for more hands on workshops with practical strategies which can be immediately incorporated into your practice. We hear you!

Anyone who would like to share further insights and/or offer suggestions please contact Jay Furlong.